


Kick Him When He’s Down

by Kittyswriting



Series: Tony-Centric OT6 Tumblr Prompts [2]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Everyone Is Poly Because Avengers, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Multi, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Protective Team, Tony Angst, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark-centric, this is more friendship but can be seen as romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-22 14:13:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4838228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittyswriting/pseuds/Kittyswriting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: The team each realizing how undeserved tony's reputation is and asking him why he never denies any of the rumours about him? Team feels please?</p>
<p>Everyone knew about Tony's reputation, it doesn't take long for the team to figure out not all of it is deserved and they will destroy anyone that says Tony doesn't have a heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kick Him When He’s Down

**Author's Note:**

> AN: I have such a weakness for OT6, I hope you like it anon. This can be read as romance or just pure team friendship defending their little genius.

~Clint~  
  
Clint was the first to notice, he never said anything to Tony about it. But he always believed he was this player, that's what he saw in all the gossip rags. They seemed to love tearing Tony down, but when he moved into the tower he noticed that there was a distinct lack of women coming in and out. Tony was known as a womanizer jumping from woman to woman, but so far living with Stark had been kind of mundane.  
  
It was actually Steve that brought it up, which made Clint note to have a talk with Nat about teaching Steve to be more subtle.  
  
"How come there's never any female companions of yours around?" And my god did Steve look awkward just saying it.  
  
"Cap, that might be the most honorable way of someone asking me why I'm not being a slut." Tony said with a grin.  
  
"I don't think that! I just meant well everyone talks about how you're a....." Steve trailed looking pretty uncomfortable.  
  
"You shouldn't trust gossip Cap. I know back in your day newspapers and magazines reported facts and all that but most of the news these days especially around those in the limelight are just rumors. Every woman I've ever danced with, been seen with, or stood next to I've apparently had sex with. I've had sex with a lot of people that is true, but not as many as the media make it sound like I do." The honesty in Tony's voice made Clint think.  
  
"Tony, has a point. The media makes things more scandalous because they want to sell, paps will do anything for a good picture. There was a scandal a few months ago when it was revealed that one paparazzi pushed a celebrity down just to get a photo of them on the floor so they could publish a story stating said celebrity was drunk." Bruce added sipping his tea.  
  
"Can't they just sue?" Steve asked sounding surprised.  
  
"Not unless we want the entire public to start judging us for it. My dad told me once that they're like vultures, and sometimes you just have to give them what they want." Tony said sighing, he got this look in his eyes he always got when he talked about his father. "Anyway come on Brucie Bear, you and I have a date with destiny and far more importantly a date with science!"  
  
Bruce just smiled and followed Tony as the other man pulled him into an elevator and presumably to the science lab where they did their science stuff.  
  
Clint had to admit he was really beginning to see how undeserved Tony's reputation was. He'd have to have a word with Nat and see what she observed because if he had noticed she'd obviously have figured most of it out by now.  
  
~Natasha~  
  
She had suspected that Tony wasn't exactly as he appeared to be before Clint told her what happened. It made sense, she knew many people in the public eye had a persona that they liked to show. However she wasn't sure how much of Tony was fake and how much of it was real.  
  
"I might have to revise my assessment on Stark." She said to Clint who was currently on her bed.  
  
"You're usually more on the ball with seeing through people's acts." He said with a smirk.  
  
"Stark's a good actor, I was aware that maybe he wasn't as big a playboy as people liked to suggest he was. However that doesn't mean I wasn't right about everything else."  
  
"I don't know Nat, he's confusing. He seems to be a complete contradiction at times. He's narcissistic but he avoids talking about himself. He talks about his genius, his suit, his accomplishments, but it's all superficial. He doesn't talk about himself the way a true narcissist would."  
  
Clint's words struck a cord with her, Clint had been given the name Hawkeye for this very reason. He never misses, and he was good at seeing through people. He saw through her when they first met, and instead of taking her down like he was ordered to he saved her and helped her start a new life.  
  
"I have noticed he's very clever at avoiding certain subjects, last time Steve brought up his father Tony managed to get Steve so rattled he completely forgot about Howard. Living with him I've noticed things I hadn't noticed during my initial assessment of him." Natasha said joining Clint on her bed.  
  
"I think he's been doing this a long enough time to be able to have people see only what he wants them to see. It's interesting though, why doesn't he ever deny the rumors about himself?" Clint's question had her wondering the same thing.  
  
"Apparently he's neither as narcissistic nor as much of a playboy as he would have people believe. Stark's strong, I've seen him argue with Steve, he managed to distract Loki, he stands up to Fury. That is not the kind of man that's afraid to defend himself or his actions. If he or his company haven't denied these rumors than it would suggest he intends to use them."  
  
"He's already been using them though hasn't he? You're probably one of the best spies around, and he managed to mostly fool you. He had me fooled as well Nat, if we never moved in and joined the Avengers I'd still believe everything people say about him."  
  
"He even puts on an act so those rumors seem more truthful than they are....I believe the two of us need to start watching him more. It's obvious that there's more to him than I originally thought." She said with a smirk that told Clint exactly what she was thinking.  
  
Tony Stark was definitely a lot more of an enigma than Natasha had thought. She herself put on certain acts depending on the situation, the fact that she didn't see through his either meant she was getting rusty or Tony was a lot better at this game than she had first thought.  
  
~Thor~  
  
He knew the kind of things people said about Anthony, even people on their own team said things about him. But Thor didn't pay any attention to the words of other people. He had too much experience being tricked by Loki's words to take anything at face value anymore.  
  
And he saw more similarities between the Man of Iron and his brother than he would care to admit. Part of him thought if Loki had not turned to the side of evil than his brother would have greatly enjoyed Stark's company. However the one thing he noticed was that Anthony cared a great deal more for people than Loki ever showed. Part of him wondered if his people had treated Loki better than maybe he would have cared more.  
  
"What is that you're doing?" Thor asked noticing Tony fixing something.  
  
"Hey Thor! I'm just fixing this robot. It's for Rhodey's godson, he's had it since he was three and Rhodey said he was pretty upset when it stopped working so I told him I'd see what I can do." Tony explained smiling when the little toy started making some noise.  
  
"Is it fixed now?" He asked curious about the little robot.  
  
"That it is. Rhodey's watching over his godson today so I'm going to go over and drop it off for him." Tony said getting up and walking over to Thor.  
  
"That was very kind of you to fix it for him." Thor said smiling softly.  
  
"I guess. It's no big deal I've known Rhodey for practically all of my adult life, and I've known his godson since he was born. Rhodey actually gave him the robot, so it's sentimental to him too." Tony explained before leaving Thor alone with his thoughts.  
  
He had heard many people tell him that Anthony was self-centered, that he didn't really think about other people. But they had obviously never seen the bonds of friendship between him and his true friends like Colonel Rhodes.  
  
Thor frowned as he thought about the way people spoke about Tony and was determined to defend him the very next time he heard anyone bad mouth Tony.  
  
~Bruce~  
  
Bruce knew from the minute he met Tony that there was more to the eccentric billionaire than what he read in magazines. He never really believed what anyone told him about Tony, most people thought he was an uncontrollable rampaging monster so other people's opinions never really mattered to him. But it wasn't until he really got to know Tony that he realized how little anyone really knew him, and how truly his new found friend didn't deserve the reputation he had.  
  
When he first got to know Tony on of the first things he noticed was how important the team was to Tony. How much his friend seemed to crave the praise and acceptance from others. People said that Tony didn't need anyone and that he was as independent as they come. But after becoming Tony's 'science bro' as the others liked to say, he saw that Tony needed people, he needed so much love and he deserved it but he wouldn't admit to it.  
  
Tony Stark was one of the proudest people Bruce had ever met, the day he willingly admitted to weakness was the day the Other Guy suddenly decided that smashing was boring and decided to take up knitting instead. But he'd gotten a fairly good read on knowing when Tony was upset by something, which is how he knew something wasn't quite right after Steve once again brought up Howard Stark. Bruce brought up needing Tony's help for something in the labs but both him and Tony knew he was just giving his friend an out.  
  
"Thanks..." Tony said as he looked at a specimen Bruce had under the microscope.  
  
"It's okay, Tony. You know Steve wouldn't ask if you told him to stop?"  
  
"I know Brucie Bear, but I don't want to talk about it." And with that the conversation turned back to the project at hand.  
  
Bruce knew that there was bad blood between Tony and Howard, what he didn't know. But it was obvious that Tony didn't like talking about his father, he just wished Steve would see that too. It wasn't Steve's fault though, Tony was good at hiding his feelings. Bruce only figured it out because he knew what it was like to be uncomfortable when someone brought up his father, he couldn't imagine what it would be like to have his father brought up so much from a teammate or the media.  
  
Bruce knew there wasn't much he could do, he couldn't really help Tony unless Tony wanted his help but at least he could offer his friend a distraction from everything the media said.  
  
~Steve~  
  
When Steve had first woke up and he found out that he was now a man out of time it was shocking to say the least. But when he found out that most of his friends had died he wanted to know what happened to them, what kind of lives they ended up having. He was amazed at the life Howard had made for himself. Building his own company and actually settling down and having a kid.  
  
That was probably the most shocking thing of all, he couldn't imagine Howard Stark as a father. He hated to think it but Peggy once told him that some people weren't meant to be parents and that she fully believed that Howard fell under that category.  
  
After thinking about what she said all those years ago even though it only felt like days to him, he wanted to find out more about Howard's kid. The media and pretty much every person he asked had very passionate opinions about him they either loved him or hated him.  
They said he was a genius, did a lot of charity work, created so many wonderful machines. Others said he was a whore, a player, a murderer, they said he used people and didn't care about anyone but himself.  
  
When he finally met Tony he wasn't sure what to believe about him. He was definitely a genius that much was true, but he was so stubborn and fought against everything. Eventually after fighting together and really getting to know Stark he could see how wrong he had been about Tony.  
  
He had learned quickly that he really wasn't as much of a player as the media made him out to be. He liked sex and people that much was true, but not to the extent that people believed. Especially considering for most of the duration Steve had known Tony the other man had been dating Pepper Potts.  
  
As for his undeserving title of Merchant of Death, which needed to be forgotten as soon as possible. It always annoyed him how no matter how good Tony was someone was always round the corner to remind him of the mistakes he had made in the past. He had been a soldier, Bruce was the Hulk, they had two assassins on the team, and a god. But Tony was the one that got the most hate for his past involvement in making weapons.  
  
It was during the battle in New York that Steve learned how far from the truth that last rumor was. Tony would willingly sacrifice his own life to save everyone in New York, he built them a tower, gave them a home, funded whatever it was that they needed or wanted. Most of Steve's art supplies had been presents that Tony had left him. Tony cared so much for people but always tried to hide it from the media.  
  
Steve just couldn't understand why Tony hid behind this image when he was such an amazing person but no one ever saw that unless Tony let them see it and he wasn't the only member of the team wondering about this.  
  
~Tony~  
  
Tony wasn't sure what he was expecting when Steve called a team meeting, he definitely wasn't expecting the meeting to turn to him.  
  
"Tony we just don't understand..." Bruce said with his typical look of concern.  
  
Tony wasn't quite sure what to say, no one had ever really wanted to understand him before. Rhodey already knew because well Rhodey knew him inside and out. The two of them had been best friends for longer than some people had been married. Pepper never actually asked him she just seemed to figure him out because she was brilliant like that.  
  
"Why do you want to know?" He asked because he just couldn't figure out why they looked so damn concerned.  
  
"We just don't get it Tony, you're a good man but you let people believe the worst about you." Steve said looking determined.  
  
Tony had to admit that did make him feel good, that Steve thought he was a good man as a child he had idolized Steve partly because of the comics he had read and partly because of Howard. "It's just better this way Steve."  
  
"Why?" Clint asked sounding curious. Him and Natasha had been mostly quiet during this whole thing, the two of them watching him like a hawk almost as if they're trying to spot something. Which knowing the two of them like he did wasn't really that surprising.  
  
"I guess because it's what I was always taught. I remember Howard use to tell me sometimes you need a public persona, that the media can tear you apart if you let them and that it's better to give them a show and have them tear that apart than for them to tear the real you apart. He use to always tell me it's what's best for business and nothing mattered more than what was best for the business." Tony said the end coming out a little more bitter than he intended.  
  
"Man of Iron there is still much I have to learn about this place and the way people work. But I do know that it is not okay for people to slander your name like they do." Thor said putting his hand on Tony's shoulder.  
  
Which really just melted Tony's heart because Thor was a giant puppy, most of the team were giant puppies.  
  
"Not to worry me and Nat will take care of them." Clint said sharing a look with Natasha that had Tony afraid for whoever would be dumb enough to cross their paths.  
  
"You guys don-"  
  
"We want to Tony, you're our friend. We know who you really are and what you're really like and none of us can sit idly by while listening to people talk badly about you." Bruce said and considering how much he knew Bruce liked to stay away from conflict it was touching to know that Bruce would willingly fight for him.  
  
"We're a team Tony, and you're a big part of that team. We look out for each other, if we hear people talking whether it's random people or the media we're going to defend you." Steve said adding his own puppy dog eyes.  
  
The whole thing warmed Tony's heart that they cared that deeply about him. "What is this The Tony Stark Defense Squad?" Tony joked. "Thank you, guys. I've never really had someone that cared that much. I mean there's Pep and Rhodey but I always told them it's for the best if they didn't interfere."  
  
"They actually listen to you though. We're more selective than that." Clint said with a smirk.  
  
"You're a thorn in my side is what you are Barton." Tony said laughing.  
  
"So what I'm hearing is that I am a rose that you want to keep by your side. You're so sweet Tony."  
  
Tony just laughed at that, Clint and him always had a similar sense of humor so it was always fun exchanging insults with him. "Oh Captain, my Captain. Is the pow wow over with now?"  
  
Steve gave a long suffering sigh before nodding. "Yes, Tony."  
  
"You know you love it Spangles." Tony said looking at Steve before turning to the group. "Anyone up for a movie night?"  
  
Clint turned to Natasha, as she gave the tiniest of nods. "We're in."  
  
"I shall also join you!" Thor said in his typical booming voice.  
  
Bruce and Steve also ended up joining them. Tony ended up in the middle of an Avengers puppy pile by the end of the movie, he didn't really think much about what he had told the others. Until two weeks later and they all showed up one day wearing "Tony Stark Defense Squad" t-shirts, which was arguably the greatest day of Tony's life.


End file.
